ti< al experience, folltiwiny graduation 

 from an agricultural collepc. Should less 

 he required for one who is expected to 

 lead in dealinj: with our marketing prob- 

 lems? 



Second, is th« lack of any coordinated 

 ind comprehensive livestock marketing 

 program. Only »>n the larger terminal 

 markets is there n«>\v any effectiveness 

 in coordination of sales I'ffort. And that 

 has boen rather more intidcntal than in- 

 teritional — largely because the weaker 

 sales firms are finding thai they must 

 keep oiore in line or see all of llieir busi- 

 ness po to other agencies. The time has 

 come wheB all progressive market 

 agencies — both exchanges and i onpera- 

 Uves-shttuld agree on a sound market 

 program and let ^he country know they 

 are standing behind it. 



Were it possible to discontiniu- imme- 

 diately the weak salesmen and weak 

 firms on every market — concentrating 

 all the business in the hands of the re- 

 maining strong firms and strong >ale?- 

 men — selling could be dotu* more effec- 

 tively, service could be improved, and 

 charges couhl be somewhat reduced. But 



I h'- tniprovt^mfcnt In sal*'s t\'miI(J f:\v nut 

 W". iM h t lie .«:i \itjc:s r» sul) tHK from red in- 

 fiMB of market r!i;trj;''S. 



Sm Ifirii; MS piwkers ran Ue^p stockmon 

 •livid. »1 into sectional oi stale moups. oi 

 Ue. p thertt t!inial)V»lin?f arnonc: themselves 

 ov. r rtht'ct markt-tinK. local markets, etc.. 

 — just so lone will the development of 

 ;i ii\ rooil>rehensi ve nin rkel tn:i i>roirrani 

 be delayed, 



W'enk '»nli*<» \Ki>iielc<« 



'I'hiril. in»*fferti ve sales rtixeneies — boil, 

 privjitel\-o\vn»'d and coop.-ra t i ve — have 

 constituted obstaejes to fair prices Sioek- 

 Mi»*ti can no ]oTii;<#r afford to support in- 

 effeetlvo auetu ies. Tlie time is now litre 

 when stockmen should insist that everv 

 adeqiiat*-lv financed cooperative do its 

 Joh as it should he done. «r f|»lt. Sonu* of 

 the tracje f«jlrir«-s of recent v^ars. in the 

 livestoffk market in j; field, are ch;ir;;eabl.- 

 t« a f^w Jneff.*t i Ve cooperatives or to the 

 in< onip»*tence of their leaders. The in- 

 dxisiry will not, tot».iate more such blun- 

 ders Moreov#*v. there have been snffi 

 ciwnt conspicuous su«'e* ss to shfnv th.tt 

 tfTeetively direeted eooperatives can do 

 the Job. 



Fourth. parkt\s' bnvtnif practices have 

 riften constituted ohstacltj* to fair price.''* 

 Thifc is two-sided. Paekers have fre- 

 'luently declined lo pay such premium as 

 outstanding" quality justified. On the 

 <>th»r hHud. commission men have too 

 iften Insisted that less desirable animals 

 «o In at the full price. 



Sioikmen cannot afford to assume oi 

 lo believw that packers' buying practices 

 are h^yond imiirovemenl. . Meti in the 

 trade realize that unsound lu-actices. detri- 

 m^ti 'a 1 to bot h i».uker and looflu.-- r are 

 in ojieratirin — Mud wish th'-y TU'-lit be 

 promptly eliminated. Said one pr"*minent 

 pac!*er operator, recently: *'My own opin- 

 ion is that both the packer and the pro- 

 ducer a T'- stif ferine under the p? iv, ni 

 set-up Th» pa»kers need to mak*> sotne 

 ratlier dra«lic inquiry Into their own mis* 

 tak*-s * I'ossibly that will not be done 

 iiniil Ktockmen develop a strong; enouch 

 mark^'tinj program so that they have a 

 more effective voir* in determining how 

 livestock is to be sold. 



Ktffli. laek of standardization of prod- 

 ucts has long" been a more serious ob- 

 stacle Whtth^r in be«-f. bacon or lard, 

 the iibsenre of standardized -and iden- 

 tiriabU) quality ©f products — 1«^ consumers 

 -has be*fn a great handicap to effective 

 distribution arvl to fair pri<'es. 



I'onslder beef as an example. In what 

 proportion of tke country's retail shops 

 can anyone e*'h cood bt ef ? And if the 

 f'hop ^oes carry some Kood beef, bow can 

 tht* buyer who does not know how to 

 judee beef b- nt all sure of Set ting the 

 srood beef? 11. '^f cattlemen arc at the 

 fork In thp rojid RiEht now they havr 



linols Legislature 



For Wheeler Amendment 



A House Resolution mcniorializintr con- 

 ^rross to enact the Wheeler .Amendment 

 to the Farm Credit 

 \i't reducing; inter- 

 est rates on past and 

 future farm loans 

 to 3*2 per cent until 

 1937 was unani- 

 mously passed at 

 SprinEfield recently. 

 The r e s o 1 u tion 

 was introduced by 

 Rep. Dennis Collins 

 of DeKalh county 

 who has a trood rec- 

 ortl on agricultural 

 lepislation. It calls 

 attention to the fact that interest rates 

 have been reduced since the Farm Credit 

 Act was passed nearly two years apo, 

 and urpes all Illinois congressmen to 

 support the amendment. 



REP. COLLINS 



the oppoi'tti ri it y tif a ^eiir-rat ion t ■> de- 

 velop a MUiillt^ iiiiirket for qunllt^ l»e«>r. 



I'nless th.lt is 'lone it is rpiite possibl. 



that our 1 f e;(tt le iMtsiness will bi 



uradually drowiietj under the steadily in- 

 » reasiim numbers of daiiy cattle. 



In various sectiotm a stronc movment 

 is developing:, its objective heinn to com- 

 pel K"\**'i unient uradinjr and btatidlnK of 

 all me;)t s. Su ff icient to sa y. there are 

 sound objtct i<»ns to sueli a m<^>vem«'nt. 1 

 ftref.-r the ('anadian system, uivtnK the 

 i>e]iaitment of At;? jcult ure sui»ervision of 

 all contniercia lly graded and branded lieef 

 and settin:; up d»finite standards to whi''h 

 each conini* rcial urad'- riiust ndiu-r*', .^ome 

 packers have spent lari;e sinns in ad- 

 vertising: their hous.- biands, I believe 



t he.\ s Mould be enfouraRed to keep and 



to use I ii. m — u?u!er uovernment super- 

 vision, to insure fair and cquilalde (jiades 

 and uradinu 



Irr4*i;uliir Froluhf lliit«*« 

 Mliih. .rt I'iiular a nd discrimitiiU ot ; 

 freichi !;ires and fieiuhl tariffs eonsli- 

 tute on,- ..f the p. ak obstnclcs of the 

 whole series. Stibsidiza I if' n of areas, sec- 

 tions o!- groups ■ -through fireferent t^l 

 freitbt rates and freii;ht tariffs-and con- 

 sef|Uent eompara ti Ve penaliza t ion of 

 others, must be stopped If the Interstate 

 t'omrncrce (Vnntnissiou cannot, or will not. 

 make the needed adjustments, then Con- 

 j:re«*s should be asked to tofler a thoiouuh 

 overbaulirm of freight rates and freipht 

 tariffs on livestock, meats and meat prod- 

 ucts, over the entire nation. .A sotind and 

 pertnan«-nt system of livestock marketini: 

 is imiiossible s<» lorm as transportation 

 stib'iidi.s — in one form or another^favor 

 certain sections and crtain interests at 

 the txpense lif all the rest. 



S«>venth. the doctrine that wherever or 

 I'owever the stockman s-H fii.s livestock 

 he -s sure to i;.-t their full matket value- - 

 that "competition" assures him a fair 

 I-ricf a ri«| full value wh*ie vr or how-xer 

 ill- >fells. cither solves completely a lid 

 lutomatically all of the stockman's mar- 

 ketini; problems or it. itself, constittites 

 • ne of the major obstacUs in the way of 

 ^ t'.f livestock |)rices. Stocktnen cannot 

 study this probj-m too carefully. Appar- 

 '^nt I V the same set of data may be t!ie 

 basis of ctuite different con<-lusions in 

 I his respect. 



For example, in their II'.T. Yearbook 

 one of th< most attractive ptiblicat ion.- 

 you will see anywhere — Swift & Companv 

 devotes some seven pa^es to "Central 

 Markets and IJvestfK-k Prie* s ' This s*e- 

 t ion says that M > livestock priees are 

 ileteimined by demand and stipply; (2t the 

 price ft( meat depends upon what the 

 consumer Is able to i>ay. and that c<.m- 

 petit ion betwe»-n pa<kers s» es to it that 

 live animal prices stay in line with the 

 price cf.nsumers pay for meals; tW) that 

 packer competition k*eps prices a? all 

 livestoik markets in line with each other 



Ml p.iiiM-rs who liuy at country points 

 usuall.v pay prii es in line with eentral 

 market prieeH--1hat producers would not 

 sell direct unless they did receive central 

 market prices; and » Ti » after all there is 

 iust ope market— the Creat riiltcd Slates 

 .Market that "it seldom tnakes any differ- 

 ence (o which nearby luiblic market a pro- 

 ducer eonsiKTis iiis livestock ber-ause atiy 

 market to which he eonsinns is but a sec- 

 men t f*f the <;reat I'niled Stat.s market. 

 ;utd prici s in all the seynicrits. whether 

 i-ountry jo it-es or rentral matket prices, 

 must, be in lint with one another t'ompc- 

 lii ion sees to that." 



Uhnf lliitui lit 



."^mir a statement, by so oiitsiandinn a 

 company, cannot be lielitly passed over. 

 No auricultural collide or ayvicult ural ex- 

 periment station, or stockmen's '»re:aniza- 

 tion. has as tnany skilled e><tno!nists and 

 statisticians devotinp their entire time to 

 livestock marketini; ptoblems as has Swift 

 & Company Is there, then, any basis for 

 arrivinir at din'er«nt conclHsions thnn 

 those presented in t!ie Swift VearbooU" 

 It appears tliat there is a sound basis for 

 airiviim^ at othtr conclusions. 



StocUmeT. i\ !io in recent tnonths lo.^t 

 iiuiiilT.ds ot tliousinds of dollars by sell- 

 In:.* cattle and hous in tin- country for 

 mueh less than iheir terminal value (be- 

 cause I he rtian out on t hi- fa im was not 

 postcfl on how rapidly the mai ket had 

 changed) seem not to acrct that it made 

 no difft-reiice whi re the.v sold their live- 

 stock: some eVen doultt that Ih'-y 'lid re- 

 reive "central market prices." 



Moreover ther4' Is a detlnite evidence 

 fhat ditTcrcnt m.irkets do riot stay in line, 

 Mr. Knute I'.jorka. I^ure.-m of .Agricultural 

 Keonomlf's. T'nited States I)epnrtment of 

 Airrieulture. made a most t hi'rouKh study 

 of this fiuestion 1 The following excerpts 

 are riuoted from the statement of his find- 

 Intrs ■ 



" lh«» iiinjor ireinK. — in prlet* hi*- 



t« roil niarkefx n re iiiiieli I he »>niiie. 1 et. 

 n <>ii refill fxtinilitnf Ion of th«> ilain NhntvR 

 that theMe prier r**lntliiii*>hi|m lire Miibjeet 

 to <*f»n«lrler:iblf inriiiflon. \ •ifiiily nf dnv. 

 tf»-dnT niMl ^Teek-(o-n*'*-k priec 4|ii(itn(lon« 

 Ht I lie flitTfrfiif mnrkft<« re% etiN Mfrlklnir 

 illsMlniiliirllfeM." i p. M\Ui. 



" Th*' da til on v*-jirly prier d la- 



tere iif la In iiN II ^vliolr do I tioi j indl* 



en 1 4' that the live |irll(et pit I iiifirketM tIMM e 

 t<iu«'ther. «'<»f JililiMhltm n eoti^iMtent MyMt«*ni 

 of pricfM \tlitrh I'ouhl be 4-oiiiifli-d on li.i 

 iitiiiiir ■niirke(«> In their Hc\eriil t leinftie«i." 

 (|i. :t7U». 



The (>iit*«t:<ii4linu viiiieliiNlnii. 

 h*ty\ v\ IT. nppenr*! i «» Im- thiit the re- 



Int li»iiM|i'p«t b4>t\\iM*ii the •■leveriil tiitirkc*** 

 *«tili Mh(iY\ 11 hiirh ih'uree 4if viirlTihillty nnd 

 d(» not indleiit*' thiit the prlcf bond be- 

 t tt e4*ii them hiiM Imm'ii e<«(iilillwhed nn n 

 pernititient IiiimIm." I p. ;t7:t t. 



**Sh«»rt tfiiie IntliM'iK'Coi niiiv i*nii*tt> 



lh«' prteev lit II uH«>n ni;irk«-l on ii pnrtli'- 

 iiliir flii> lo riio\«* In n wtiy ^^hieh Ii.'Im lit- 

 tle or no rtdiiliftn to whiit is liiippenini* iii 

 •tlhtT iniirketM." i p. ;:s"J>. 



*v Till- most coiiiiiion elinrni-l«>rlNtle 



nf hoK price ililVereiitiiil** lM't\>«>fn ler- 

 111 inn! iiuirketM In ehiiiiKe from .venr to 

 yi-nr. iiionth to month. «vt-t'k to t%*-ek. Hnd 

 liny to fliiy. In fiiet. It in r:itb«T iiniiwitni 

 for II dlfTerentiiil to renin In the 



MiMiie iirti\<>eii iwit ninrki'lM for ty^i* *ne- 

 <m>mmI\'«> p4>rli»dM. l-'ien (Iiiy-tf»-iln5' <*hnni£eit 

 in illfTerenlliilM 04>«*iir iippr<iiini:it«*l y fonr- 

 lirthN of the time.*' < p. UKt, 



'I'm* \ ie%T I'lilnlH 



The lesults of an IIIin'>is studv:: atiree 

 with the tindiTi:;s of Mr f:jorka. the Illi- 

 nois bulletifi showinc i:r<.it varialtilitv In 

 the daily price differ* nc.-s b- tAveen all 

 tna rke ts studied, as well a?, jn seasonal 

 variat ions. 



H'-re. then, sifukni'i, liav-- two very flif- 



f.j. Ml views piesented '■tie tS tO I tie ef- 



fect ihat m.irkets automat i«-a Ity keep 'n 



l-Ile with e;)ch other. heUi-e refuins will be 



en in ; -a r a ble wh. r e v. r i ii.- st o. ]< man sells 

 The Other ^nyn (hnt ditrerentiniM lirt»pen 

 ninrkft*( nrt* eitnMtnntiy ehnnKlnic. that II 

 nitiT iiinki' n i£r*'nt deiil of illlf «-renei- %«hi<'h 

 innrkef the •«ti»«-k iii:in Mel«>et<» «>n iiii.i pni- 

 tieiiliir d«T. >|.v o«n vle»i i»« definit**tt 

 the Inftrr one. 



The statement that competition keep's 

 prices ift line should also be uivfii car«-ftt-l 

 attention Ma\ sto.knien saf'Iy assuote 

 I ha t com pet It ion - effe<-t i ve buy int: conip'- 



' "The (ooporntlve '^liirketln^ of I.He- 

 *itoek.'* llrookinKM liiMtltiitlon, WnNhlne- 



tnn. n. ('. i!i:(i. pp. Miu-um. 



2 "Vrivf |>in'er<*n«'eM ||«>lt«eeti Hi»K *li»r- 

 krt^." lllinoiN \ urleiiit iiriil 1^ vporf nient 

 Mntlon llnllotloii :;vo. | rlianii. IIMnoi*. 



in.rj. 



IS 



I. .\. A. Ki:( OKI) 



